In The News

The Senate Intelligence Committee uncovers a relationship between President John F. Kennedy and Judith Campbell – whose name is also linked to the mafia. The committee said it has no evidence that the woman served as a link between Kennedy and the Mafia in plots to assassinate Fidel Castro.

Charles Manson disciple Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme convicted of attempting to assassinate President Ford, is sentenced to life imprisonment.

The remains of three American pilots killed in the Vietnam War are released by Hanoi. The three servicemen are Lt. Col. Crosley James Fitton Jr., of Hartford, CT; Capt Ronald Dwight Perry of Gallatin, TN. and Navy Comdr. Jesse Taylor Jr. of Los Alamitos, CA.

Six armed terrorists burst into a conference of OPEC in Vienna and seize oil ministers of 11 nations. Nearly 60 other OPEC staff members and employees were also taken captive in the attack… Later, the terrorists surrender but three of the OPEC hostages were killed.

7 die in a fire at the famed “Blue Angel” nightspot in New York. An electrical fire set a curtain on fire at the rear of the club. Employees spent 15 to 20 minutes to try to get the fire out (no one called the fire department) and nobody was in a hurry to exit – until the lights went out and (the estimated) 35 patrons panicked. Fistfights broke out – men punching woman. One of the first bodies found was that of the coat girl. This is not the same “Blue Angel” of the 1950’s-1960’s.

Mayor Abraham Beame is in the midst of an intensive campaign to sweep the Times Square area clean of prostitutes, derelicts, pornography shops and massage parlors in time for next year’s Democratic National Convention. “We are determined, once and for all, to reverse the blight in this vital center of our city.”

Best -selling books – December 15, 1975

Curtain – Agatha Christie

Ragtime – E.L. Doctorow

The Greek Treasure – Irving Stone

Looking for Mr. Goodbar – Judith Rossner

The Choirboys – Joseph Wambaugh

Humboldt’s Gift – Saul Bellow

Shogun – James Clavell

In the Beginning – Chaim Potok

The Eagle Has Landed – Jack Higgins

The Great Train Robbery – Michael Crichton

Non-Fiction –

The Relaxation Response – Herbert Benson

Bring on the Empty Horses - David Niven

Power: How to Get it, How to use It – Michael Korda

Sylvia Porter’s Money Book – Sylvia Porter

Angels – Billy Graham

Winning Through Intimidation - Robert Ringer

The Save Your Life Diet – David Reuben

Freedom at Midnight – Larry Collins/Dominque Lapierre

Against Our Will – Susan Brownmiller

Total Fitness in 30 Minutes a Week - Laurence Morehouse/Leonard Gross

Entertainment/Celebrity news – December 15, 1975

New at bookstores -
”Doris Day Her Own Story” by A.E. Hotcher

“After 27 years in show business my public image is that of America’s fa-di-da happy-go-lucky virgin, carefree and brimming with happiness. An image, I can assure you, more make-believe than any film part I ever played. At ten years of age I discovered that my father was having an affair with the mother of my best friend. At 14, I was in an auto hit by a train, and that threatened to make me a cripple for life. At 17, I was married to a psychopathic sadist. Whey my third husband died, a man I had been married to for 17 years, I discovered that he left me with a debt of a half-million dollars. My reward for a lifetime of hard work.”

Playing in Las Vegas –

Paul Anka – Caesars Palace

Bobbie Gentry – Desert Inn

Jack Albertson/Doc Severinson – Frontier

Ann-Margret – Hacienda

Smothers Brothers/Anthony Newley – Riviera

Tony Bennett/Lena Horne – Sahara

Wayne Newton – Sands

Sports news – December 15, 1975

Mike McCormack is fired as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles after a 4-10 season.

Former boxer Rubin (Hurricane) Carter (38) accuses Gov. Brendan Byrne of New Jersey of participating in a conspiracy to frame him for involvement in a triple murder. Carter and codefendant John Artis are serving life sentences for the murders committed at the Lafayette Bar & Grille in Paterson, NJ. They claim they were framed in 1966 because of the former boxer’s civil rights activities.

After he filed a petition for clemency, Carter says Assemblyman Eldridge Hawkin’s report to Gov. Byrne on the case was equivalent to a frame-up – and that his “impartiality” never existed. “Him and his boss (Byrne) had a theory of how they can best get rid of this thing by making us half guilty and then went out there to manufacture evidence to fit that theory – the very same thing police did in 1966 that put us here.”

Hollywood news –Television news – December 15, 1975

Kojak star Telly Savalas will make his debut as star of his own musical variety special in February. Titled “Telly… Who Loves Ya Baby,” this should be interesting.

“Upstairs Downstairs” – the longest running and most successful British television series to date, ends its run this week. The series first appeared on British TV October 10, 1971.

Primetime TV and pre-teens (ages 2-11) favorite shows –

Six Million Dollar Man, Little House on the Prairie, Happy Days, Emergency, When Things Were Rotten, Swiss Family Robinson, Welcome Back Kotter.

Primetime TV and Teenagers favorite shows –

Welcome Back Kotter, Six Million Dollar Man, Happy Days, Baretta, All In The Family, ABC Sunday Made-For-TV movies, Starsky and Hutch, The Rookies, Phyllis.

John Hart will succeed Tom Snyder as anchorman of NBC Sunday Night News effective December 28. The switch was made to lighten Snyder’s workload.

First Lady Betty Ford will make a cameo appearance on “The Mary Tyler Moore” show January 10 on CBS.

Goodbye peacock. NBC introduces its new logo, described as “an abstract symbol which is a representation of the letter “N”.” NBC President Herbert Schlosser says, “It will be the thread that is woven through all of NBC’s public appearances, on the air and off the air. We think it will give us a modern look if distinction and quality.”

Actor Bob Cummings (65) is arrested by Seattle police for using a “blue box” to deflect the cost of long-distant phone calls. The actor is appearing n a Seattle theater.

Actor Randolph Mantooth of NBC’s “Emergency” is found groggy and semiconscious from carbon monoxide given off by a heater in his apartment. Real-life paramedics from County Fire Station 69 responded.

Members of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” file a court petition to stop ABC-TV from showing an edited version of three of their programs December 26 on “Wide World of Entertainment.” The group claims that an October 3 airing of another three Python programs was “an amazingly bowdlerized and butchered version of what we had done.” “What we liked best about our shows being seen on public television here was that they were exactly as we had made them for the BBC” said Terry Gilliam. “The people at ABC always claimed to be great fans of ours and said we’d be much better off on commercial television. ““In one cartoon sequence in a sketch called ‘The Golden Age of ballooning,’ the Montgolfier Brothers were shown taking a bath. ‘They washed their arms, their legs’ said a voiceover, ‘and then they washed there…’ and there was a loud bleep. What we in fact had said was ‘they washed their naughty bits’ I guess ABC things “naughty bits’ is a dirty word at 12 o’clock at night.”

TV Mail –

“Is there anyone I can write to concerning a complaint regarding Howard Cosell’s conduct on Monday Night Football? I’m tired of plugs, inane comments and general lack of knowledge.” Write to his boss, Roone Arledge at ABC-TV 1330 Ave of the Americas, NY, NY 10019.

Jeffersons – George throws a late-night fit upon discovering that Lionel turned down a $20,000 engineering job.

Howard Cosell Show – With guests Roy Clark, Andy Williams.

Doc – Doc’s daughter Laurie and her husband Fred are having a tiff over a fundamental parental question – how to explain the facts of life to their 10-year-old. Stars Barnard Hughes, John Harkins, Judy Kahan

The O’Jays cancel the rest of their current tour due to singer Will Powell’s illness, which has been diagnosed as physical exhaustion… Olivia Newton John will begin to tour at the end of February and runs through April.

They’re back – Hamilton, Joe, Frank & Reynolds have been absent from the charts for a few years. Looks like Playboy Records took a gamble on the group, and agreed that if their single “Fallin’ In Love” was a hit, they would get an album.

Update - Songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart are back with Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones with “The Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Boyce and Hart” group. As you may know, the songwriters wrote some of the Monkees hits. Last month, Capitol Records released their first single; something called “I Remember The Feeling.”

Last week – Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue made a surprise visit to Madison Square Garden to play a benefit for Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. The show featured Joan Baez, Bobby Neuwirth, Rambling Jack Elliott and special guest Muhammad Ali.

At the Troubadour in Hollywood – Disco Tex and his Sex-O-Lettes. Disco Tex is Monte Rock III.

Buck Reingold, a very determined record promotion man with Casablanca Records – books four seats from LA to New York to transport a 3-foot-long, 150-pound cake for a Donna Summer party. After arrival at Kennedy, Reingold and the cake chartered an ambulance so the cake wouldn’t spoil.

Neil Bogart, Reingold’s boss at Casablanca, has a slogan – “We’re not only in the business of making and selling records, we are in show business.” It was Bogart who tossed the big party for Donna Summer, who he considers Casablanca’s newest singing female sex symbol.

Tony Bennett just signed the highest-paid contract ever set by the Sahara in Vegas. He’ll begin in May. Bennett will be backed by Count Basie.

Did you know the Doobie Brothers fly in their own plane dubbed “The Doobieliner?”

Rod Stewart breaks-away from his longtime band “Faces.” Stewart, who cancelled tours to Australia and New Zealand, said the move was taken “after much deliberation.” Stewart said he can “no longer work in a situation where the group’s lead guitarist, Ron Wood, seems to be permanently on loan to the Rolling Stones.” Look for a solo album.

Speaking of Monty Python, all members of the group including cartoonist Terry Gilliam are set for a three-week stand at the City Center in New York, April 12. Should be a real treat. It’s almost impossible to see all six – John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin performing at the same time, same place outside of their zany series.

KC and the Sunshine’s “That’s The Way I Like It” is the first Hot 100 (Billboard) single ever to regain the #1 slot from as low as #4.

Solo artist Joe Walsh will replace guitarist Bernie Leadon on the upcoming national tour by the Eagles.

Cher is pregnant. She married rock musician Gregg Allman in June. The baby is due late spring.

Hot disco and nightspot in Palm Springs – “Pal Joey’s” with co-owner Pat Rizzo. Rizzo is an alumnus of the Sly and the Family Stone group where he played sax and flute. The joint is a celebrity hangout, catering to such celebs as Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Darryl Zanuck, Peter Lawford and others. A local record store keeps Rizzo up on all the new tunes. “I go in, sit down and listen at times to dozens of records. That’s how I select my music” says Rizzo.

Top Dance Music Diso – December 15, 1975

Lady Bump/The lady Bumps On- Penny McLean

I Love Music – The O’Jays

Baby Face – Wing & A Prayer Five & Drum Corps

Salsoul – Salsoul Orchestra

I Am Somebody – Jimmy James & The Vagabonds

Elusive – Babe Ruth

Ride The Mighty High – Mighty Clouds of Joy

Jump For Joy/I Could Have Danced All Night – Biddu Orchestra

Top Soul Hit Music Songs – December 15, 1975

Full of Fire – Al Green

Let’s Do It Again – Staple Singers

Part Time Love – Gladys Knight & The Pips

I Love Music (Part 1) – O’Jays

Caribbean Festival – Kook and the Gang

Love Rollercoaster – Ohio Players

Wake Up Everybody (Part 1) – Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes

Soul Train ’75 – Soul Train Gang

Love Machine Part 1- Miracles

Top British Hit Music Singles – December 15, 1975

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

You Sexy Thing – Hot Chocolate

The Trail of the Lonesome – Laurel & Hardy

Money Honey – Bay City Rollers

Na Na Is The Saddest Word – Stylistics

All Around My Hat – Steeleye Span

This Old Heart of Mine – Rod Stewart

Show Me You’re A Woman – Mud

Love Hurts – Jim Capaldi

Sky High – Jigsaw

Imagine – John Lennon

Let’s Twist Again – Chubby Checker

Top music albums – December 15, 1975

Chicago IX – Chicago’s Greatest Hits

History – America’s Greatest Hits

Gratitude – Earth, Wind & Fire

Still Crazy After All These Years – Paul Simon

Red Octopus – Jefferson Starship

Rock of the Westies – Elton John

Windsong – John Denver

KC & The Sunshine Band

The Hissing of Summer Lawns – Joni Mitchell

Honey – Ohio Players

Breakaway – Art Garfunkel

Feels So Good – Grover Washington Jr.

Family Reunion – O’Jays

Save Me – Silver Convention

Alive! – Kiss

Lazy Afternoon – Barbara Streisand

Face The Music - Electric Light Orchestra

Greatest Hits – Seals & Crofts

Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

Helen Reddy’s Greatest Hits

Top Country Hit Music Singles – December 15, 1975

Easy As Pie – Billy “Crash” Craddock

Convoy – C.W. McCall

Secret Love – Freddy Fender

Country Boy (you got your feet in LA) – Glen Campbell

Where Love Begins – Gene Watson

When The Tingle Becomes A Chill – Loretta Lynn

The Blind Man In The Bleachers – Kenny Starr

Love Put A Song In My Heart – Johnny Rodruiquez

Just In Case – Ronnie Milsap

Top pop hit music singles(top-40) USA – December 15, 1975

THAT’S THE WAY (I Like It) - KC & Sunshine Band

LET’S DO IT AGAIN - Staple Singers

FLY, ROBIN, FLY - Silver Convention

SATURDAY NIGHT - Bay City Rollers

NIGHTS ON BROADWAY - Bee Gees

SKY HIGH - Jigsaw

MY LITTLE TOWN - Simon & Garfunkel

I WRITE THE SONGS - Barry Manilow

LOVE ROLLERCOASTER - Ohio Players

I LOVE MUSIC (pt. 1) - O’Jays

FOX ON THE RUN - Sweet

ISLAND GIRL - Elton John

THEME FROM MAHOGANY (Do You Know Where You’re Going To) - Diana Ross

OUR DAY WILL COME - Frankie Valli

THE WAY I WANT TO TOUCH YOU - Captain & Tennille

VENUS AND MARS ROCK SHOW - Wings

EIGHTEEN WITH A BULLET - Pete Wingfield

YOU SEXY THING - Hot Chocolate

CONVOY - C.W. McCall

FLY AWAY - John Denver

WALK AWAY FROM LOVE - David Ruffin

THE LAST GAME OF THE SEASON (A Blind Man - In The Bleachers)- David Geddes

WHO LOVES YOU - Four Seasons

I WANT’A DO SOMETHING FREAKY TO YOU - Leon Haywood

SECRET LOVE - Freddy Fender

FOR THE LOVE OF YOU (pts. 1 & 2) - Isley Brothers

SING A SONG - Earth, Wind & Fire

LOW RIDER - War

OVER MY HEAD - Fleetwood Mac

PART TIME LOVE - Gladys Knight & Pips

COUNTRY BOY (You Got Your Feet In L.A.) - Glen Campbell

EVIL WOMAN - Electric Light Orchestra

WINNERS AND LOSERS - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

FULL OF FIRE - Al Green

ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE - Kiss

TIMES OF YOUR LIFE - Paul Anka

FEELINGS - Morris Albert

I’M ON FIRE - 5000 Volts

HURRICANE (pt. 1) - Bob Dylan

Some top movies – December 15, 1975

The Story Of O (rated X) – Christiane Minzzoli “A portrait of love and submission to disorder the senses.”

The Man Who Would Be King – Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer